Flesh and Bones
by maximaxx
Summary: Not unlike a certain human before him, Shinji is a human that enrolled in Youkai Academy. Now, if he knew what would happen, he never would have touched that flyer. He would have burned it, danced on its ashes and exorcised the remains.
1. Less than what you bargained for

**Less than you bargained for**

Shinji was, plainly stated, average. He had good grades, but not enough to stand out. He was incredibly bad at PE, but so did most of the other students in his classes. Basically, he was just one guy out of many.

He might have been able to get into a good high school had he really tried, but he had never seen the interest in pushing himself to his limits. So, when he stumbled unto that flyer from Youkai Academy, a private school that did not ask for an entrance test, he thought «why not?».

Now, he was more thinking along the lines of «God why? ».

Well, for starters, the bus driver, while cool looking with that cigar, had been really vague and had dropped him quite a far distance from the actual school. It would not have been that big of a deal if there had been a path that did not go through those really creepy woods. Why would they keep so many dead trees near the school? They could just cut them and plant something young. Unless there were some sort of regulation he was not aware of. That was probably the real reason.

Also, there had not been anyone to guide him anywhere. He had tried asking the old lady that was apparently a secretary (he was not buying it, she looked way too much like a toad…), only for her to grunt something about a map he had been given and how bad his sense of orientation was.

Yeah… that had not left him with a good taste in mouth.

Anyway, after asking a really stunningly beautiful third year with pink hair, he had finally succeeded in finding the dorms. Shinji still could not believe he had built up the nerves to ask her directions. He was not that courageous usually, not to mention the death glares he had received had freaked him out.

For a second, he had sworn that one of those tall jocks had grown fangs and claws.

That had been his cue to back the heck away from that third year girl.

Then, everything had been blown away in his mid during the first period of his first class.

«Hello everyone and welcome to Youkai Academy. » A cute looking teacher greeted him and his fellow classmates. «I am your homeroom teacher Shizuka Nekonome. »

A fitting name when you considered her hairstyle. It was as if it was made to look like there were cat ears on her head. Oh well, he had had eccentric teachers before, he could probably handle one that seemed nice, even if somewhat ditzy.

«Now, before we have a brief overview of our school's rules and etiquettes, I'd like to introduce some students to you. After all, if I did the opposite, we'd have to go through them twice. » She chuckled and a few students followed suit. Shinji only allowed the faintest smile to reach his lips.

She quickly walked up to the door and made a gesture for the students waiting outside to enter.

One by one, the four students were lined up at the front of the class. Two girls and two boys, all in all, not bad looking, but clearly foreigners.

«Here! » Their teacher exclaimed, cheerfully presenting them to the rest of the group. «As per our new foreign exchange student program, these four students will start attending Youkai Academy with us. I will let them introduce themselves to you. »

With that, she stepped aside and invited the first one of them to talk.

The first one to talk was a girl, coming from the northern corners of Europe. Her mastery of Japanese was… shaky at best. She was called Hilda and was expecting a lot from the cultural exchange… or at least that's what Shinji gathered.

Next was the second girl, with much darker skin and jade eyes. She sounded a lot better than Hilda, but he recognized some grammar mistakes in her introduction and he was no expert. She had finished her introduction on her name: Chloe.

The first boy had a really beautiful voice. Shinji had first thought that he had started singing, but he realized to his stupefaction that the guy was really just speaking normally.

«My name is Antonio Pavari, from the Vatican City. » After that one line, Shinji had been completely lost.

When he had come out of it, it was already the last of the exchange students' turn. The last boy was by far the less impressive of the four. Brown hair and eyes, his uniform a bit lazily worn and a bunch of notes writing on a small piece of paper as he spoke with the thickest accent he had heard yet.

«My name… is… David. I came… from North America. » He clearly struggled with the words and Shinji felt a pang of pity in him toward the boy. No way was he going to understand any of his classes for months!

Somewhere toward the back of the class, there were some idiots snickering and silently mocking David.

It bothered him, for some reason, but he was not going to act on it. No way was he going to get in trouble with what could be thugs for the sake of a complete stranger.

Slowly, David finished his introduction and Mrs. Nekonome patted him on the back gently before assigning them each a seat.

David was placed two seats to his right. From close up, Shinji could not help but get the feeling something was wrong with that guy. He never realized he had been openly staring at the foreigner until David looked back with a slight frown.

Blinking, Shinji focused his attention back on the teacher.

«Alright, now that everyone had been introduced, we can go on with our regular program. I think you all know this, but Youkai Academy is a school that was built specifically for monsters. »

…what?

«After the surprising advent of humans and their incredible demographic growth, monsters no longer have any other option other than to hide and coexist with humans. » She pulled down a chart and bogus numbers about vampire populations in comparison to humans.

Shinji almost stood up and called her on the farce. He would have had actually, if a paper ball had not hit him right on the head. Annoyed, Shinji looked around but could not identify the culprit. He was pretty sure it had not come from his left at least.

«As such, Youkai Academy will teach each and every one of you how to maintain a human appearance at all time in order to survive once you leave the academy. »

He had to be dreaming. He had to be freaking dreaming! Oh the lecture was aggravating and completely stupid. _Except that when the girl in front of him had sneezed, her ears and her teeth had extended three feet! _

«For example, Miss… Tsuki here would usually be penalized for letting her disguise slip.»

«But I only-! » She stood up to protest, only to be cut off by the homeroom teacher.

«Of course, since this is the first day of class, you will only be warned. » She smiled and the girl sat down, her ears slowly shrinking back to normal.

And apparently, this was now happening.

«You mean we have to look like stinking humans all the time! » An incredulous and loud voice boomed into the class.

Shinji had a big BIG flaw. When he was nervous, he was loud.

«HEY! » He turned back without thinking, shaking from his own anxiety. «They're not that bad! »

Silence fell on the whole room and that was when Shinji understood how big of a mistake that was.

He was being stared at by more people he could count in his state of mind. Many were stunned, others were worried and… some were openly hostile.

«Well, that was surprising, Mister… Issounai, is that right? » The teacher commented soberly.

He only nodded guiltily and tried to make himself as little as possible.

«Anyway, to answer that question, yes, you do need to remain in human form at all times. While changing form in your sleep is frowned upon, it is not punished for first years. The goal of this school is to teach you how to be unnoticeable to humans. This place has been kept secret for many years now and our existence must stay the same.»

Was she saying what he thought she was?

Oh crap…

He had to leave this place as soon as possible!

The rest of the lesson flew right over his head. The only thoughts that came to him was that he had to leave before someone figured it out. His paranoia grew to enormous proportions faster than he could have ever imagined.

Someone kept glancing at him; he knew that for sure. There was this burning sensation on his back every time he was thinking about the kind of monsters that surrounded him.

His heart almost exploded in his chest when a delicate hand dropped a paper on his desk. He barely had the time to restrain a scream when it entered his field of vision without warning. Shinji shot a crazed look at the girl on his right, but she was absorbed in their teacher's speech and did not answer.

With what he hoped was a calm exterior, he grabbed the folded paper and found a message clumsily written that said «Front Dorm, 18:00».

Well, it was lovely to get a note that asked for a secret meeting but seeing as he was in a school full of MONSTERS that were likely to kill him on sight, he would pass, thank you very much!

Oh, Fate had another idea in mind. And Fate happened to be related to a certain man wearing lots of white.

«Try not to act suspicious, try not to act suspicious, » Shinji repeated to himself.

He had no idea it was possible for class to appear longer than when given by his old math teacher, but when your life was in danger, it put things into a whole new perspective.

So when all of his classes were finally over, Shinji had to use every ounce of his strength not to dash out of the room screaming. That would probably attract someone's attention.

Instead, he sloooooowly walked away, making sure not to bump into anyone. He had a feeling that any person that would take offense would eat him… or worse…

Why did he watch so many horrors movies? It just gave him a very vivid imagination when he was stuck in one of those scenarios!

Luckily, he avoided all physical contacts while in the hallways…

Unfortunately…

«Hey! You! »

Shinji just knew it was aimed at him. Why? Because that was the voice that had protested against taking on a human appearance.

Trembling like a leaf on the inside, he turned around, to see that three really bulky guys were staring at him with hostility.

The biggest one was the one to corner him first (of course…). Looming over him, his face twisted into one of anger that made Shinji lose his voice with fear, he spoke.

«So you think humans aren't so bad, huh? »

«I-I… » He glanced to his sides, hoping that at least one person would be generous enough to intervene. Deep down, Shinji really wished that not everyone was like him!

But no, barely a student spared a glance at the obvious intimidation going on. Some did stop and back away, but none tried to help him.

The other two were also closing in on him. Soon, he would be completely surrounded and at their mercy.

Though he doubted that word existed in their dictionary.

Finally, his instinct got the better of him and he broke into a sprint.

Instantly, he heard the trio yelled «GET HIM!».

If he were to think positively, he would say that it was just what he needed to make sure he would run faster than he had ever run. If he had the capacity to think, it would most likely end up as «run, run, run, run, Oh God! Faster, RUN, AAAH, ruuuuuun! ». However, his mind was completely blank.

He dashed right through the doors, not bothering to look where he was going. After all, he could still hear them.

A few hours earlier, he swore not to go into the dark forest growing around the academy. Now, Shinji looked at it like it held salvation. And perhaps it did, but it was unlikely.

A piece of him, very small, was amazed that they had not yet caught up with him. Could his only saving grace be an athletic ability that was below average?

In any other circumstances, he would have dropped to the floor and pant for an hour. His lungs were on fire and his legs had nothing to envy about that.

He had passed the cover of the trees and the path was so irregular it made the race even harder. This place's only saving grace was that it made him hard to see. More than once, he had heard his pursuers rage when they lost sight of him for more than a few seconds.

Shinji's vision was getting clouded. This was more than he could take. In but a few moments, his body would fail him; he knew. He was drenched in sweat from the fear and he had the conviction he would not be able to go on much longer.

As he was jumping over a root, everything suddenly tilted. The ground raced toward his face and he understood he had tripped. On reflex, he closed his eyes.

It took a second longer than he expected and the impact was more violent than he had anticipated.

More importantly, Shinji no longer had the strength to stand up and run. His body was screaming at the unexpected abuse and even the prospect of saving his life was not enough to get it to move.

The voices of the three bullies were already becoming louder, but nowhere near enough to eclipse the mad beating of his heart.

«Where is he? »

Oh God, that sounded so close. Any second now and they'd see him lying on the ground, ready for a beating… or a killing.

«He went this way! » One of them shouted.

Their footsteps continued to rang louder… and louder…

He did not have the courage to look. He could not face his fate with dignity. He was just too scared.

Each of these noises sounded like thunder to him. It echoed, again and again as he knew he was going to be found.

«Where did that little human lover go? » His voice boomed in the otherwise silent forest.

What was said planted a seed of doubt in Shinji's and he hoped so strongly that it hurt.

Slowly, very slowly, he opened his eyes.

The light did not filter well… badly, in fact. There was only a circle of light above him; the rest was pure darkness.

«I-I think he went that way! » A thug said and the sound marking their presences started to fade.

To fade!

He understood in a flash.

Him, exhausted like he never had been before, tripping over a root. Him, falling over, his eyes closed… right into a hole.

Waves of relief hit him like a train. Had he not been scared they would hear him, he would have laughed. Instead, he did the second best thing.

He cried.

* * *

Only the fear of staying alone in the middle of these woods made him leave the safety of his improvised hiding place.

It had been hard, harsh, difficult, frightening even. More than once, just as he was about to get out, he heard a branch crack or a bird croak and he let himself fall down instantly. The motion of the sun going down in the sky only brought his sentiment of urgency back. If he could not make it back to the tunnel before night... he'd have to go through the woods again with only the moonlight as a guide.

Against everything his instinct told him, he forced himself to get back at the dorms, if only to rest before leaving. He was too tired…

He was also lost.

He had run blindly. He had no idea of where to go to get back.

This was without a doubt the worst first day of school ever!

* * *

It was late when he finally found the dorms, past reasonable hours for a student to get to sleep. Absentmindedly, he told himself that at least he did not have to reject a girl and fear the consequences… though the idea of seeing her again tomorrow after he had let her wait for presumably hours…

He shivered. He really had to leave the first thing in the morning tomorrow.

A girlfriend would have been nice though. He was not exactly popular before. Funny how things worked sometimes… even if being attractive to monsters did not make him flattered.

There could have been an advantage though. She might have been able to protect him from the rest of the school.

Hum… a beautiful strong girl falling for him and saving his life against this place… who was he kidding? As if that would ever happen to anybody!

Carefully examining his surroundings, he made his way toward the dorm.

He did not hear it, that silent pouncing coming from behind. Neither did he smell the delicious odor of burning flesh that came with it.

Everything happened in a blitz.

Shinji only had a second to realize that he was lost.

Then he saw a jaw full of fangs and the pain followed.

It went on forever. In an eternity, his life flashed before his eyes, tearing through the suffering. He never had the time to think about it, he never had the chance to make peace with his fate. It all happened too fast for him to even fear.

Shinji died.


	2. When you did not even agree to it

…**When you did not even agree to it…**

The first thing he remembered was hearing some snickering. And whispers, many whispers. Mainly, it was about mocking him. Well, he thought…

«Freshman… » Many sighed while others mocked.

What felt weird was that all of this was directed at **him**. Wasn't he supposed to be dead?

…

Wait…

HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!

His eyes shot open, feeling completely and totally awake, much more than he ever did during any morning of his life.

He jolted away in disgust.

There was a half-eaten dead crow right next to his face!

«GAH! » He crawled backward, trying to put some distance between the animal's corpse and himself.

Out of a morbid curiosity though, he could not help but stare…

That thing had no guts…

A bell rang. Blinking, he reminded himself of where he was and what he had planned to do and…

Wait… which part of it had been a dream? He could not have been killed by whatever that beast was, so he had dreamed that. Okay, so he had had a nightmare about being killed. Understandable, since he had been chased and paranoid ever since he had heard of the monsters around…

He did the smart thing. He tried to know where he was. Easy, there was a big school building in front of him. So he had fallen asleep in front of the academy after the debacle yesterday. Good, now he had to go back to his room, pack his things and freaking leave! Before class if possible. Shinji did not want to find out what they did to students that skipped classes around here.

Wait… how long did he have before…?

He shot a look at his wrist, the left one where he had his watch and…

He completely forgot about the time of the day. Shinji was a bit more worried about the fact that his skin had turned grey. Besides, his watch had been replaced by a sort of… broken shackle anyway…

Plus, his belly (when had he ripped off his shirt that badly? ) and legs (he had shoes and normal pants the last time he checked) were also a pale shade of grey.

Now that he thought about it, he felt very weird at the level of his guts.

He was sick!

He ran inside the school, without thinking about the potential monsters that would end him if they knew he was human. Though for some reasons most were just laughing a bit lightly whenever he walked them by and a few others frowned. Too glad not to feel open hostility, he just rushed to the first bathroom he could find.

Thankfully empty (oh God the images that came to his mind just thinking of monsters in a public washroom), he ran to the first mirror he could find.

He blinked in shock.

The skin of his face was grey too, but that was far from the weirdest. His eyes were blood red, completed with black bags under both eyes as if he had never slept, and his hair, black instead of blonde. What… the… hell?

This was not getting sick…

Actually, it could have been because of the sudden burn he felt around the place his stomach should be. Suddenly very nauseous, he arched forward and let go of his last meal, namely yesterday's dinner, into the sink…

Through the tears, he managed to make out the shape of the stuff he had expelled.

Guts…

The image of the deceased crow floated in his head.

«Oh God… » He whispered, absolutely horrified, just before the memories made him sick again.

_I… I did not eat a crow! That's impossible…_But even his reflection in the mirror seemed to contradict him. Perhaps… perhaps it had not been a dream…_ What happened to me?_

But even talking to himself did nothing to save his hopes. In fact, it crushed them completely. He did not remember having fangs like that yesterday.

That was when his strength left his legs for good. In a second, he slid down to the ground.

«What happened to me? » He muttered, on the verge of tears.

His mind could already provide him an answer.

Monster.

T-that was just a bad joke, right? A n-n-nightmare probably…

While Shinji was almost catatonic, the door to the bathroom opened. An imposing man entered, wearing what appeared to be cool sunglasses. Bald and stern, the man wasted no time to notice the broken student on the floor and more importantly his appearance.

«Your disguise is broken, young man. I shall see you in detention at four this afternoon, » he declared, clearly disdainful at his distress.

_Your disguise is broken…_

Youkai Academy was a school for monsters. It taught them how to look humans, to maintain their disguises all the time.

Well, freaking hell, he could not even leave the place now! He really had to learn how to disguise himself as a human now.

Because… he was… no longer human…

«Now pick yourself up, you have a class in five minutes. » The man, obviously a teacher, mercilessly put salt on the fresh wound. «And put on your human disguise! »

Shinji wanted to throw up again.

«Shinji? » Someone asked, piercing through his defense.

There was a monster that knew him in here?

With blank eyes, he looked up and found himself staring at the foreign student, David.

«Are you alright? » He frowned, kneeling next to him.

_No, no, I'm not alright! I've been turned into a monster and I don't even know why! _

Against his better instinct, he nodded. It would not do to reveal he was human… used to be…

«Really? I thought the shock would make you go insane or something… » He tilted his head, seemingly confused.

Shinji blinked. That… what… he…

He knew?

He pointed a finger accusingly at David, only for the boy to shrug it off.

«Alright, I think there is something you might want to know and toilets may not be the best place to speak of it. Let's skip our first class. » He grabbed Shinji's hand before he could say anything and dragged him out.

«B-but… » Unfortunately, his new status did not include superior strength or if it did, it made no difference when faced against David's.

Helplessly, Shinji was dragged outside of the school.

* * *

«We should be more at ease to speak here. » David shot a satisfied look around and sat down on a log.

Shinji did not sit down.

«Hum… where to start? » He scratched his chin, looking pensive.

Had he been aware of Shinji's internal debate, a true maelstrom of emotions, perhaps he would have acted a bit less like the whole thing was a minor inconvenience.

«What do you know? » Shinji felt like he would throw up (once more) just because of how much he had to restrain himself to lunge at him to squeeze the answers out of the foreigner.

Then again, he had no idea what David was and he did not want to find out. Not firsthand mostly.

«That you were human. » Just that had been enough to reduce him to near tears. «…I'm sorry… »

«W-what are you apologizing for? » He cringed at the compassion in the other's voice. He… he did not want to sound so whiny…

But he was a monster! That had to count for something, right?

«It's my fault. » He grimaced.

«WHAT? »

«I wanted to talk to you but you didn't come. When I found your corpse, I decided to give it a try and see if I could make you talk again, » he explained, a bit sheepishly.

«You… huh… what? » Shinji's eyes twitch, if only because of his confusion.

David sighed at that. He had a feeling this might take long.

«You died. » There, blunt, perhaps that would be easy to understand.

It was lucky his skin was already grey. That way, no one could notice he paled.

«Something killed you. I don't know what it was, but a monster of some sort attacked you and ate your guts. »

Shinji gulped loudly. There was that strange emptiness in his abdomen… and the image of that jaw full of fangs.

He staggered and David rushed to help him stand correctly. After a brief confirmation of Shinji's well-being (and forcing him to sit on a log too), David continued his explanation.

«When I went out, your corpse was there. Let's just say that it was messy and I'll leave it at that, less you feel bad again. » The westerner even grimaced a bit and refused to dwell on it any further. «So I raised you. »

«…hum… » Shinji tried to make sense out of that, but… no… it was not working. «What? »

«I used a spell. I reanimated your corpse and I turned you into a zombie. »

«Z-zombie? » Shinji stuttered and looked at his grey hands with horror.

«Yeah, zombie. A lesser undead. » He nodded, apparently not quite understanding the total distress that was emanating from the newly reborn monster next to him.

«H-how? » He had to think clearly. Chase away the image of monsters eating brains and guts from those stupid horror movies he used to love…

Oh the guts…

His nausea returned. Judging by how the day was going, he would have to learn how to live with permanent sickness.

«Well… » He stood up and took a few steps to move away from Shinji.

When he considered himself far enough, he closed his eyes and started glowing. It was not a beautiful light, but it was pure. Pure pitch black light… but still.

After it had cleared, Shinji got to see the true form of the guy that turned him into a monster.

He was… human. Definitely human in shape… even if he was a bit paler than the norm. Actually, most of the change seemed to stem from two facts. First, his uniform had been replaced by some sort of dark robe ornamented with bones (which gave Shinji shivers) and he now held a staff. The second was that his eyes were now completely black.

Perhaps it was his ignorance or the sheer emotional impact that he had worked against since he was up, but Shinji's response was both unexpected and blunt.

«You're wearing a dress. » It came off completely deadpan.

It was enough to make David's jaw drop.

«T-This is not a dress! » He protested, clearly taken by surprise by the unusual comment.

«It looks like one to me, » Shinji replied, just to drop the tension a certain amount.

Well, it might have worked, if not for the brief spike in killing intent that washed over the new zombie. It brought him to his knees.

Realizing his mistake, David deliberately relaxed and let go of his anger.

«Sorry about that. I… was not expecting it. » It was not quite comforting enough for Shinji to stop trembling in fear.

With the new monster avoiding his gaze completely now, David went on with his explanation.

«Anyway… I am a necromancer. »

«…that's considered a monster? » Shinji just could not keep his mouth shut when there was too much stress involved.

«Wow, even new monsters can be racists. That HAS to be a first. » David did not seem impressed with the zombie's attitude.

It was a good thing blushing needed blood and a normal skin, otherwise Shinji would have looked like a tomato.

«Yeah, necromancers are a subtype of monsters called the «creatures on the boundary». Basically, it includes creatures that are mostly humans physically, but whose ability is definitely based on youkai energy. Most magic users are classified as that. »

«Magic? »

«That's the part that surprises you? » He snorted. Really, was it just because they were from a very different culture or Shinji just had skewed priorities? «Yes, magic. You were turned into a zombie by necromancy, by my hands. »

«Why did you do that? » He just could not understand. He was a normal person, they had never even exchanged a word, so why would he do that!

«I told you. I just wanted to talk with you. I can't do that if you are dead. Even if technically you still are… » He shrugged.

«THAT's what I meant: why would you want to talk to me? » He tried to grit his teeth, but fangs were not exactly the right kind of teeth for that task. It felt so weird that Shinji swallowed nervously.

«Well, that's obvious, no? I was curious. You had stood up in class to say that humans aren't so bad. I hoped that you would be less likely to be diminutive of my true form than most. » This time, there was a slight accusation in his tone.

Shinji had the decency to look ashamed. «Sorry… »

«But yeah, when I saw your corpse, I knew you were human so it explained that. »

«In that case, why would yo-» He was cut off by David.

«Because I need friends or allies. Sure, a zombie is not much, but it's much better than nothing at all. »

Oh great, he was considered less than stellar even as a monster. Could this day get any worse?

«A necromancer that comes from America… I was wondering if people would be more judgmental just because of the difference in locations… I guess not, because it seems just as bad here as it was there. » He sighed sadly and, for once, Shinji's mind was off his own little person.

«You… you're discriminated against? » He bit his lips, remembering his own, ignorance driven at least, insensitive comment.

«Monsters that are on the boundary between humans and creatures are often called half-breed, which is far from a compliment. » He looked away resentfully. «No, to be a «good» monster, you have to be eight foot tall, have giant claws or be able to reach the speed of sound. Controlling corpse and spreading disease is not good enough, noooo. » He ranted.

A part of Shinji was trying not to focus on the vague descriptions of other monster he had given, nor on the «spreading disease» part, no matter how mock worthy it sounded to him.

Double entendre… He liked them.

«Anyway, the thing is necromancers are not respected because they look too much like normal humans. » He grunted. There was a great amount of bottled up anger in the foreigner.

«So you wanted to talk to me because you hoped I would not react like them? » He summarized, an embarrassed grimaced on his features.

«Yeah, but it's okay. I should not have expected you to know that when you were just human. »

Was that a subtle insult to get back at him or was he sincere? Either way, it stung a bit too deep to Shinji's tastes.

«Right. Now what do we do? » He asked, frowning.

«I was hoping we could hang out. I did kind of save your life, from a certain point of view. Without my help, you'd still be laying in front of the dorms… if nobody else needed a snack. »

Yikes! He did not want to think about his own corpse like that! Not to mention he did make a good argument…

«Err… sure… »

«Good, because it would have been a bit hard to maintain your undeadness if you went on your separate way. » He let out a sigh of relief.

«Huh? »

«My magic is the thing moving your flesh and your bones. The farther you are from me, the harder it becomes for it to reach you. On campus, you should be fine; it's just that in the outside world it might become problematic. »

A knot tied down his throat. Oh God… he was… bounded to the necromancer now?

«Normally, with time, your corpse should start producing the youkai energy by itself but for now, it's all me. » David's disguise returned, putting him back in his normal attires.

It reminded Shinji that he had no idea on how to do the same. Everyone in the school seemed to have some sort of knowledge about it, but he had just found out he **needed** one. What was he supposed to do?

«Here, let me help you. » The necromancer just put a hand on his forehead and Shinji felt light for a second.

When he looked down at himself, he almost let out a cry of joy.

His uniform was back! His skin was a beautiful peachy color! When he passed a finger in his mouth, his teeth were normal! And he bet his eyes and hair were back to normal too!

«Shinji… you're still a zombie, » David stated softly.

It shocked the air out of him. Shinji needed to take a seat.

He had been so sure… for a moment, he had hoped… He had hoped so hard…

David looked particularly guilty when his new friend started to cry.

«I… I just wanted to help you with your disguise… I figured you would not kn-… » His voice just trailed off. Shinji was not listening.

* * *

They ended up skipping two classes instead of one. There was just too much for Shinji to take. He had let out everything once.

Yesterday, he had been convinced he would die. Today, he knew he had died. Somehow, this was not comforting at all.

«Are you feeling better now? » David patted his back.

«I… I think so… » After all, could he really tell? He was missing several organs but that did not seem to bother his health in the least.

«Good… » He helped him stood up and passed an arm around his neck to drag him toward the school.

The bell rang once more, reminding them of their tardiness.

«Hehe… I never was one for punctuality. » The necromancer chuckled.

It brought a very small smile on Shinji's fast.

«Neither was I… », he said.

«We're sooo getting a detention after this. » David mockingly whined.

«I already got one this morning. » He shrugged. «Something about not having my disguise on. » Humor was good. Humor meant he would not break down again. «Couldn't you have done that before I met a teacher? Were you trying to get me a detention? »

«Now, now, I feel that someone is ungrateful here… » He grinned, his eyes narrowed. «But, of course, I was trying to do just that. »

«Hey! » Shinji shoved him playfully.

«Don't worry; you'll have plenty of monsters to talk with you. I'm sure of that. Just present yourself and lots of monster will try to get to you. » He smugly smiled.

His declaration suddenly brought back a certain memory from yesterday.

«Hey! Weren't you supposed to be really bad at speaking Japanese? » He stared accusingly.

David blinked, then started laughing.

«Wow! » He said, wiping a tear. «And here I thought your priorities weren't all in the right places… I was wondering if you would ever ask me that. No, I was not faking it. I really am that bad at speaking Japanese. » He shrugged.

«Sure does sound like that now… » Shinji remarked.

«That's because I've got a good look at your knowledge and memories when I brought you back as a zombie. Basically, since you speak it fluently, so do I now. »

«Wait… » Shinji realized with horror. «When you say my memories… you don't mean… »

«Most of them, yeah. Cute girl you dated two years ago. Megumi, right? » David's face was mostly occupied by a large mocking grin.

«You… » He stuttered, in a mix of anger and shame.

«Such a shame about the marshmallow incident. » David took on a fake pained expression, teasing.

Shinji groaned and held his forehead in his palms. For the love of God, why?

Wait… was there a god for zombies?

«Anyway… » David continued.

No, he would not ask the North American, in fear that he would answer that **he** was Shinji's god now. He could just see him replying that with so much clarity…

«As I was saying, you should really try to talk with the other monsters in detention. »

«…Why? Won't they all be thugs? » He winced, remembering the trio of monsters that had chased him in the forest.

«Some probably will be, but I bet they will be there for the same reason as you. Most won't be quite used to their disguises. That's not a bad opportunity to see some of their true forms, don't you agree? » David suddenly seemed a lot more mysterious and cunning.

«Hum… yeah… » Except he did not really want to know about the other students' true forms. The least he knew, the better he would feel about this place.

«Well, why don't you try to make friend with the strongest monster in detention? » He suggested, far from innocently.

That tone made Shinji highly suspicious.

«Why would I want to do that? » He asked, cautiously.

«Because that's what I need. Powerful allies, or subordinates if you can manage but I'm not having any illusions about that. » David shrugged casually.

«You keep going on about that. Why would you need powerful allies? Are you being targeted or something? » There was just a hint of worry in his voice.

It seemed to surprise David, as his eyes widened very slightly.

«Oh, no, not even close. I just need powerful allies to take over the school. »


	3. Shooting yourself in the foot

**Shooting yourself in the foot... with a bazooka!**

Shinji was pretty certain this feeling was fear. Actually, he would not have had doubts if David had not vehemently demented it

«Look, I know it's weird, but you're a zombie. You can't feel something like fear or terror. At most, it's just stress that you're mistaken for that. »

No, it was definitely fear. He knew it was fear… He knew it should be.

But, no, it was true, this was not fear. He just wanted to be able to feel it.

It was hanging his head in defeat that he entered the classroom. It never occurred to him that showing weakness like that was a really bad idea in a place full of monsters. He was still new to being one anyway…

«Ah, Mister Issounai, you are right on time. Please take a seat. » He was greeted by a rather strange professor.

Nodding, he shot a look at the class, which contained only half a dozen students, none of them looked very friendly. Was he expecting much? No, not of monsters.

Shinji sat in a corner, making sure to stay far from the rest of them. He knew what David had said and he knew he certainly did not want to go talk to some guy and find out it was a dragon in disguise. He still liked his «life» enough not to try self-destruction.

«Alright, now that everyone is here, we can start the make-up lesson. » The man, still wearing his sunglasses, stood up and, after introducing himself as Professor Jack, started going on about the importance of being able to maintain our disguises at all times.

Predictably, he was interrupted by the tallest student in the group, a guy with dark green hair and the weirdest set of yellow eyes ever.

«Why the heck should we care about them knowing? »

Well for starters, it was very scary. Especially when guys like him where allowed to roam free.

«Now, now, Mr. Darkabyss, we do realize that your kind would probably not be affected by the knowledge of your existence, but the world of monsters as a whole needs to keep a lower profile than the level of activity you are used to. »

«Tch. Weaklings… », he mumbled.

Prime David ally material there: a(n apparently) powerful monster that was not particularly set about following rules. A tall intimidating guy that had the potential to help, his necromancer friend would be pretty happy. For some reason, Shinji forgot most if not all of his inhibitions about talking to others during this detention.

«Very well, for those of you that actually have the skills to back up your claims, we are now going to work in pairs about your transformation abilities and you may not leave if your partner or myself finds a single fault in your disguise. Actually, if I do find a fault, both of you are staying another hour, so I suggest you do not take this lesson lightly. Begin. »

There seemed to have been a vacuum in the class as soon as the teacher had finished talking. Shinji soon understood why.

No one wanted to pair up with the tall arrogant guy. Too bad that now they were the only two students left.

Those cunning bastards…

Not even close to being surprised, the teacher sat down at his desk and pulled out a book to read.

«Mister Issounai, you shall work with Mister Darkabyss for the next two hours, » he stated in a matter of fact tone and left Shinji deeply resentful for that.

The other student glared at him from his seat, as if daring to get him to stand up from his seat. There was nothing to fear about that. Shinji did not want to antagonize the guy.

He took a seat at the desk next to him, trying to ignore the cold gaze locked on him.

«Hum… Shinji Issounai… », he said with a very visible hesitation.

«So? Do you expect me to tell you my name in return? » The other student snapped, making Shinji jump back in surprise.

Wow… hostile… He obviously did not want to be there right now.

«N-no… I just wanted you to know. »

A stupid lie. The last thing he wanted was for the guy to have a name to put on his face if he decided to exact revenge for some reason.

«Well, look at how much damn I give. » He leaned back in his chair, completely indifferent.

That was better than murderous, much, much better.

«Why are you even here? You obviously don't have any trouble with your disguise. You look exactly like one of those puny bipeds. » He shrugged, not knowing how much of an insult that had been.

Unfortunately, Shinji did not manage to hide his true feelings at that, and that Darkabyss guy was apparently skilled at picking up anger from a stare.

«Who do you think you're looking at, huh? » A growl rose up from his throat and he gave Shinji the impression he would try to bit his face off.

_A jaw full of fangs…_

He blinked, trying to chase away the image of his own death. If he delved on them too much, he'd go insane. It was with a certain relief that he felt the other student grab and lift him to his level.

«Are you listening to me? » He narrowed his eyes, though there was a certain amount of surprise in his voice. He had not expected the little runt to ignore him like that.

«Oh… hum… yeah. I am. » There was something amazing about the lack of fear. Truly, he should have been covering and begging for mercy at that point. He was so much scarier than the three thugs from yesterday, but there was just no impendent panic in his mind.

«Are you? » He repeated, his tone taking more of a threatening stance.

«Yes. I am. » He had to fight his own annoyance at being questioned, mentally shocked at his own daring attitude. «The thing is I don't know WHO you are, because you did not tell me. »

He raised a fist to strike, but just before he could, a lamp was hurled into the side of his face. It was thrown with enough force to send them both to the ground, even if it was more because Shinji was not dropped with the hit.

Enraged, the student stood up lightning fast and coiled around, looking for the culprit among the gasping fake humans in the room. And every single one was glancing between him and their teacher.

«Mister Darkabyss, I believe that the lesson to be learned here is how to look like humans and I'm afraid that if you punch out Mister Issounai's, you will have to wait for him to regrow it. »

«So what? He obviously knows how to disguise himself; it did not even flinch just now! » He protested, loudly.

«Are you so sure of that? » The professor asked, sincerely curious.

«Well, yeah. Look at him. » He pointed at Shinji. «That's exactly how a weak representative of humans is supposed to look. »

«Is that so? But earlier today his disguise was completely broken. If anything, I'd say it's because of a lack of nerves. » The professor turned a page of his book, perfectly indifferent to them all.

«Is that true? » He turned to Shinji, his eyes narrowed thinly. Even worse, many could have sworn that his skin was slowly turning blue.

«And here we go. Another hour for you Mister Darkabyss. Now, if you would please concentrate on the exercise, you might leave before your next class tomorrow morning. »

Perhaps it was just an impression, but the general consensus was that the tall delinquent was seconds away from attacking his teacher.

It left Shinji to wonder what was the punishment in a monster school for attacking teachers. Death? Probably, but how? Being eaten? Dismemberment? Decapitation?

It had to be something much more exotic, but his imagination for once was thankfully lacking.

Who knew that his mind could also cut him some slack from times to times?

«Fine, » he spat and sat back.

Shinji took that as his cue to finally dust himself off and stand.

A pregnant silence followed.

«Jonas. Jonas Darkabyss. Got it? » He mumbled.

A much heavier silence fell on them all.

Even Mr. Jack had looked up from his book, staring intensely at Jonas.

«Happy? Now, can we focus on that stupid exercise and so we can leave? » He lashed out at Shinji, who only put both hands in front of him, giving up on arguing.

«Actually, has you already pointed out, my disguise is fine. We have to work on yours. » Shinji wanted to eat his tongue, but, for some reason, he could not stop his thoughts from being transmitted to his fellow student.

There was the slightest blush on said student's cheeks before he grunted something like «shut up».

Shinji cringed, internally and externally. Partially because the mistakes Jonas made were spectacularly creepy. It was uncannily close to the real deal, but always with some detail to screw it up.

«Your tongue is forked. » He pointed out at the other's mouth, bringing the other a great deal of frustration.

Surprisingly, the tall «human» was quite dedicated to his task. Either he wanted to leave as soon as possible or he was just responding to the taunt of the teacher watching them.

After all, they were the only students left. The rest had all been dismissed, the last of them a few minutes ago.

«Your nose is too small, » Shinji commented.

That was the other reason he was freaking out. He kept taking small jabs at Jonas while under the guise of helping him with his disguise. Now, his teammate was no fool. Not when the teacher aimed an amused smile at the weakling in front of him whenever he made a comment.

«You're mocking me. » The words felt incredibly cold and Jonas' glare was even worse.

Even then, nothing.

Ironically, his lack of fear started to scare him.

«I was not. » He used a tone he hoped sounded soothing and sincere.

«You've got guts to lie to my face like that. » The monster in human form closed in, his face trapped into an expression promising pain.

«No, I don't. » He wanted to smirk at that joke, even if it was not funny.

Jonas blinked, once, and then smiled.

«Oh, so you're the little zombie that people talked about this morning, » he sneered, looking down on Shinji.

«Hey! »

«They also said something about a human lover. Not surprising considering you used to be one. » There was so much derision in that single sentence, it was impressive.

It had a powerful impact too, even if it was entirely for the wrong reasons.

Before he knew it, Shinji had stood up, facing Jonas with a low primal growl growing in his throat.

«You want a piece of me, little undead? » He taunted, poking his forehead. «Don't even try. I've got teeth bigger than you. »

Sound argument. Then again…

«You think you can fit in the classroom? » Shinji felt his rationality abandon him.

«You think I **care** about the classroom? » He snorted, incredulous.

The teacher quickly cleared his throat, reminding them of his presence.

«I'm going to guess that no, you don't, but you still won't transform. » The zombie grinned and motioned toward the teacher with just his eyes.

The taller student glanced once at Mr. Jack and decided either that it was not worth another hour of waiting alone in this crappy room or that it might not bode well to kill someone in front of a professor, since he made a derisive noise and decided to leave.

When he passed by his teacher, he made a rather rude sign with one finger (learned straight from one of his victims) that made the teacher frown. In the door frame, Jonas locked gaze with Shinji with an intensity that **should** have made him shiver.

«You better make sure not to meet me in a dark place alone, zombie, » he advised, perfectly honest.

Shinji pondered for a moment exactly what had possessed him to act like that. He had done just what was needed to make an enemy out of a guy that had admitted being much bigger than a classroom. That was so immensely stupid he could not believe it had come from him.

«I would call you brave, young undead, but I know better. That was foolish. » The teacher started packing his things and looked at the clock. «Goodness, would you believe that it already is five thirty? »

«I would… » He looked down, trying to stomach the professional's opinion he had been given.

Foolish…

He could see the promise of violence in Jonas' eyes again and again in his mind. This was not good. This was beyond bad.

He was so dead.

…Deader than now at least…

* * *

«So, how did it go? » David asked between two bites of… something Shinji could not identify.

«Well, » the zombie scratched his head sheepishly, «I did talk with a strong monster, Jonas Darkabyss. »

«Him? » His eyes suddenly lightened up with enthusiasm. «That's great! He's the talk of the day. Two days of school and six fights to his record. Won them all. Easily. Except that he can't make his eyes go human. »

«Yeah… that's… great. » Shinji grimaced.

«So, will he join us? » The necromancer looked quite hopeful at that.

«If by «join us», you mean «kill you in a graphic and gory manner», yeah. » He munched over some sausages. For some reason, he had had a violent desire to eat that when he saw them.

«You antagonized him? » David frowned.

«Yeah… He insulted me first though. » Shinji deliberately avoided staring at the girl whose mouth had grown twice in volume to swallow her lunch whole.

«It can't be helped then… » David focused on the remains of his supper, not exactly happy anymore.

«Sorry, » he muttered, though silently he was also wondering why he was concerned about the whole thing in the first place. It was not like he agreed to anything at all.

David had not quite sold his plan earlier that morning.

_«You want to do what? » He shrieked, horrified. _

_«I said that I wanted to take over the school. » He shrugged, as if his idea was not outrageous at all. _

_It left Shinji a bumbling mess._

_The whole school was a lair for monsters of all kinds. There had to be some strong ones studying there, true, but that also meant the staff was strong enough to handle it. And he wanted to take it over! What for? _

_He dared not ask. His instinct screamed he did not want to know._

_Still, there was no love between him and monsters. There was no love between him and David either, the beginning of a nice friendship, yes, but not love. Plus, there was the whole «your life is bound to my youkai energy». It would not do to let David try something that dangerous alone. _

So, yeah, he would try if it meant David and, by extension, himself would live a little longer, but this morning had been disastrous enough to do just the opposite.

«I think it's the lack of fear that made me clumsy, » Shinji confessed. «It was as if I could say anything I wanted, listen to anything he said, without feeling a shred of fear. It made me feel strong, even when I'm not, at all. I'm sure he really did not like me standing up to him. »

«Hum… » David scratched his chin pensively. «You know, I think you might be wrong here. »

«What makes you say that? » Shinji blinked.

Before his friend could give him a definite answer, an unknown student dashed into the cafeteria, running straight to the table next to theirs. Out of breath, the monster held on to the table not to fall.

«Darkabyss… » he started, glancing at the door he had come through with apprehension and a slight admiration. «He got into another fight! »

«That's your big news? » One of his pal, a female of a stunning beauty, raised a delicate eyebrow skeptically. «That's what, seven fights so far? Why should we care? »

«Because… » he grunted with exasperation, « …he just knocked over three trolls and one teacher that wanted to step in! Alone! »

A respectful silence followed his declaration.

That freshman was really starting to get impressive.

«I am so dead. » Shinji groaned, hitting his head on the table. «Jonas is going to kill me, most likely while eating me. »

«Your chances of survival are admittedly slim. » David finished his meal, not in the least troubled. «Don't worry though; I can always bring you back later. »

«Death is cheap around you, isn't it? » He said with a little hopeful smile.

«Not quite. » The necromancer scanned the room, looking for strong monsters among the crowd of disguises. «The fresher the corpse, the more sentient the zombie. Considering general opinions and the threat of eating you, he's probably a big monster, meaning it'd take a while to digest you. Since I can only create undeads out of corpse I can touch, you might come back with very few brain cells. »

Shinji gulped down nervously.

«But hey, don't worry. If he does eat you, he'll be plagued with diarrhea. » David put a hand in front of his mouth, holding back a very obvious desire to laugh.

Shinji's eyes twitch.

«Way to cheer me up, tranny, » he deadpanned, with the satisfaction of seeing David flinch.

«It was not a dress! » He stood up, angry.

«Of course it was not. » Shinji grinned, enjoying having the upper hand.

Not a second later, as Mr. Jack walked by his table, David's smile turned evil. After a snap of a finger, Shinji suddenly found himself without his disguise.

«Well, I am pleased to see that you liked me enough to get yourself another detention tomorrow, Mr. Issounai. »

Anger was among the emotions he could still feel. Oh, not a burning anger, more of a cold desire to eat his guts, fest in his remains and -

NO! BAD ZOMBIE!

Not knowing his friend's thoughts, David smugly stood up with his tray, leaving Shinji alone to ponder on his murderous intents.

He did not even get that.

The door to the cafeteria was slammed open, surprisingly not broken by the violence of the hit.

The conversations stopped.

Students turned to stare, contemplating the choice of not staying in the same building as the monster that was obviously pissed. Most of the second and third years did not bother, though the same could not be said for the first years. After all, it was their raising star (in terms of fighting of course) that entered.

Shinji flinched when Jonas saw him.

He bit his lips – and hurt them badly with his fangs – when Jonas' narrowed his eyes threateningly at him.

«I'm watching you, » he whispered. «You look ugly, by the way. »

He was going to get a headache after this **and** a good health insurance, just in case.

«I am so dead… » he grunted.

Which, of course, was followed by a random student replying «duh!».

True enough, but he had grown attached to this semblance of life David had provided him with. If possible, he would like not to get a detailed view of someone's digestive track.

Not from the inside at least…


End file.
